Sloppy Seconds @ Paddy Murphy's

Sloppy Seconds unleashed on November 13th at Paddy Murphy’s Irish Pub and Ale House.

This great two level pub was recently reopened by the same owners of the Queen’s Head, located further east along Queen Street. Upon entering you get the feeling you have stepped into a pub somewhere in Ireland. From the furniture to the décor, this place has the feel of a traditional pub.

On November 13th DJ Triple-X presented Sloppy Seconds – an assault on the senses. Music ranged with a selection of classic and obscure tunes that included 60’s trip-out, 70’s K-Tel hits, 80’s classic new wave and street beats, current indie climbers, and crazy-ass covers. Vintage videos from the past were also profiled and included some rarites such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Nirvana, Iggy Pop, and more.

Paddy Murphy’s opened its doors earlier this summer and it’s quickly become a neighbourhood gathering spot. It’s comfortable, welcoming and the drink prices are some of the lowest in the city. There’s a great selection of imported brews on tap and reasonably priced daily specials.

The Details: Sloppy Seconds – 751 Queen Street West (Basement Lounge) – 416 360 7272. No Cover.
Stay tuned for more dates to follow.......

Lounge Lizard @ The Drake Hotel

DJ Triple-X made his debut at the Drake Hotel lounge on November 19th for the apres-work/pre-party cocktail hours 7:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M.

The night began with a some classic Funkadelic and Fantastic Plastic Machine and gradually progessed toward the newer indie sounds of Controller Controller and the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. In between there was time for some Tina Turner, Gloria Jones, and plenty of 80's retro from the Pretenders to the Cars. A mini set of classic ska featured tunes by the English Beat, the Selector and the Clash.

Tossed in between all this mayhem were tunes by Grace Jones, Marianne Faithful, Carl Douglas, The Fever, Rough Trade, Wall of Voodoo, and of course the standard selection of crazy-ass covers.

It made for an interesting start to a Friday night. Watch for more lounging in the weeks to come.

Drake Hotel-1150 Queen Street West, Toronto

Laura Ricker @ B Sweet

Local folk songstress Laura Ricker brought her unique acoustic performance to B Sweet on November 19th in celebration of her newest CD release, Damned. This CD is the follow up to her first commercial release, Heavy, released in 2002 and created using her PC, a Behringer mixer and a couple of recording and mixing software programs.

Ricker admits, “It’s been some time between releases, but the timing has to be right.” She has been strumming guitar since she was 15 years old. Her first CD was actually recorded in a friend’s basement and the majority of sales came from her fellow classmates at her high school.

Ricker notes her influences as Ani DiFranco, Cat Power and Neko Case, however there are subtle indications of her punk and hardcore attitude that resulted from playing church basement gigs in Mississauga. One of the highlights in her early career was winning the Streetsville “Bread and Honey Festival” Battle of the Bands contest. As a solo female performer she beat out 30 other bands in the competition.

She has opened for Bif Naked, Billy Talent, Ember Swift, Barbara Lynch, and many more. As a performer at the early age of 17 she also has played at various festivals throughout Toronto and beyond.

When not busy performing, Laura maintains her two websites, www.torontopeople.com and www.lauraricker.com. Toronto People is a local online dating service and her personal site is a chronological look at her life and career. Her somewhat regular journal makes for some interesting reading.

This special event featured opening act Hunter Valentine, alongside the ever eclectic musical mix of DJ Triple-X, who tackled retro dance and raw ragga vibes.

TRADE Launch @ B Sweet

The national publication, TRADE, threw a porno pillow party on November 25th in celebration of the release of the Sex Issue. The premiere issue of TRADE hit the streets back in January 2000. It came about as a collaboration between Jon Pressick and a couple of friends who thought the current mainstream media wasn’t representing their views or providing the kind of information they sought.

Pressick states, “It began as an alternative to the widely available queer media publications, which we did not see as particularly queer. It embraces the very broad meaning of queer.” The focus is on local personalities, current issues, and arts and entertainment that are not generally covered by the mainstream queer media.

Queer is a term that is becoming popular amongst the alt-youth of today to describe anything that is non-mainstream and against the norm. It’s not always used within a gay context.

The night featured the usual eclectic crowd of misfits and bohemians. There was a special performance by the sexually operatic Helene Ducharme, and multi-media displays of what else…SEX. Videos of both genres were shown on the big screen to the delight of the pillow huggers in attendance.

DJ Triple-X controlled the music with an interesting mix of obscure and classic SEX tunes from the 80’s to today.

This was the last official weekly edition of On The Q.T. For those in attendance it was a grand farewell. There are plans for one off special events or perhaps a monthy version of On The Q.T.

TRADE is produced quarterly at the cost of $4.00 and is available in Toronto at This Ain’t The Rosedale Library and Glad Day. Subscriptions are $10.00, available online at www.tradequeerthings.com, or you can contact Jon directly at jon@tradequeerthings.com or 647-831-1435